Training in Florida up to speed
Mike Richardson more comfortable about being aggressive in 2003
By Daily Courier Staff
The Okanagan Sunday

Time appears to be a friend to Mike Richardson. And an enemy. In central
Florida for five days of training for the upcoming 2003 Barber-Dodge
racing season, the Kelowna resident says he's made steady improvements
concerning lap times. But, he adds, going from good to great proved
quite the challenge. "I pulled in good times, and I was only two-10ths
(of a second) off the fastest time," said Richardson, who left
sunny Sebring yesterday for the grey, cloudy skies surrounding Kelowna.
"And the guy who set the best time was the test track driver, who's
been running the track for five years. So he had an obvious advantage.
" I tried getting (my times) down, but making up that short amount
of time means you have to do everything just right. If you're off just
the smallest bit, it shows at the end of a lap."

In his first Barber-Dodge season, Richardson played it cautiously instead
of going for broke. The 35-year-old said his game plan was based on
learning more by finishing as opposed to learning nothing by sitting
beside a wrecked car. On Sebring's two-mile track this week, Richardson
threw caution to the wind. "It's all about getting used to the
car you're driving," said Richardson, who logged an average of
120 miles of track time per day. "And to get used to something
like this, you need a lot of seat time. "I'm finding out what works
for me, and what doesn't work. Before, I didn't completely trust where
the car was going. Now that I'm comfortable in the car, I'm being more
aggressive. "I'm now able to take the car right to the edge and
it feels good. "I've never felt something like that last year.
It feels good to be accomplishing something by working the car and pushing
it to its limits."

One item which helped Richardson advance to the edge was a steady off-season
workout regime. After shedding 20 pounds to a svelte 180, a much-fitter
Richardson, who runs 20 miles a week, said conditioning allowed him
to recuperate quicker after a lengthy day behind the wheel. "You
actually get a pretty good workout in the car," said Richardson.
"And by the end of a full testing day, a driver can feel pretty
drained. By being in shape, I was nowhere near as tired when the next
day came round. "Some of the other drivers in testing looked absolutely
exhausted, whereas I wasn't. "So obviously there's a lot of benefit
to working out."